I didn’t pay much at all for last night’s refuge so I’ll take solace in that. My neighbors fit the stereotype for the small town motel dweller. They were loud, and carrying on until one in the morning. At points the couple squared off in a screaming match so convoluted that I would need Larry the Cable Guy to translate.
I gave the wall a good pound. In turn, I got a polite reply with and indoor voice, “Sorry it’s my birthday.” (Sir I don’t care if you’re giving child birth). The couple had a commonality in their overall lack of overall respect for people. That attribute was probably a big reason why, 1, they lived in a motel, and 2, they have relationship problems.
In the bigger picture of my trip, that was neither here nor there. I effectively replaced my lack of sleep with sugary sodas throughout the day.
While I’m thinking about caffeine, I don’t think I have ever had a cup of coffee. I’ve tried it as maybe a ten year old. And I know it’s in the Hot Nut from Tony’s in Athens. But I just don’t drink coffee. I try and keep the caffeine to a minimum in my life. I’ve had maybe a half dozen energy drinks to give you an idea.
Well in honor of my arrival to Seattle I will find a small coffee shop downtown and place an order. I hear they like their coffee. When in Rome..
I’m spending the night in Olympia, the state capital. I was turned away from the Motel 6 and forced to find an independent operation because I didn’t have a state issued ID.
I’ve been turned away because I don’t have a photo ID before. I understand, I really do. But the troubling thing I see in my interactions with these people is the fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between a function and a purpose
A function is how something works. Think of it as an equation, but not limited to math per-se (you could say everything’s math though). A purpose is how something is leveraged to accomplish a goal. It can be very difficult to tell the difference, and at this point in my life I haven’t figured out yet how to properly communicate to people when something is a function and when something is a purpose.
I’ll give an example of why it can be so complex. At first glance, a stop sign appears to be a function. Most people think the stop sign is an equation, and in order to satisfy it, they must stop. A stop sign is actually a purpose, or has one I should say. That purpose is to alert the driver that a potentially hazardous interaction could take place without the proper attention.
To prove that it is a purpose, imagine a world where there is only one person. Would it be rational to expect that person to stop at a stop sign while driving. It would not. That is because purpose has been satisfied by the situation.
I bring this up because the purpose of requesting a photo ID is to confirm identity. People that work in places that ask for said ID are either too lazy or too incompetent to satisfy the purpose if it’s not convenient.
No I do not have the photo ID to confirm my identity. I have a fully loaded touring bike, an elaborate account of how I got here, and a beard to match. The card would have been cancelled by the time I got here 9.9 times out of 10. By the way I’m wearing all Ohio stuff. I can have the clerk lookup and dial the credit card company to verify my identity through a series of security questions. Heck I can pull up the hundreds of Facebook photos linked to my name.
Individually, each piece of evidence will not suffice. But all together they confirm my identity better than a Social Security Card. When someone turns away my business because I don’t have a photo ID, it’s because they’re bad at their job or they don’t care. Neither is acceptable.
Tomorrow I’m heading to the Emerald City. There’s a lot to do and a lot to see. I’ll be there at least until Wednesday. I still have to figure out how I am going to get myself and my bike back home safely.
I’m going to sleep like a rock tonight.
